This note describes the current greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions indicators in the WDI and proposes a new set of indicators using a different data source. The indicators are evaluated using the inclusion criteria.
Currently, 37 indicators on GHG emissions are included in the WDI. The proposal to revise the set of indicators and the data source is due to several shortcomings of the current set of indicators:
The following 37 GHG related indicators are currently in the WDI database:
| Series code | Description | GHG | Sector | Source | Time coverage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD | CO2 emissions (kg per 2010 US$ of GDP) | CO2 | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.KT | Total CO2 emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 excluding Land-Use Change and Forestry) | CO2 | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PC | CO2 emissions (metric tons per capita) | CO2 | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PP.GD | CO2 emissions (kg per PPP $ of GDP) | CO2 | All | CDIAC / CAIT (?) | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PP.GD.KD | CO2 emissions (kg per 2017 PPP $ of GDP) | CO2 | All | CDIAC / CAIT (?) | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.GHGO.KT.CE | Other greenhouse gas emissions, HFC, PFC and SF6 (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | Fluorinated gases | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1970-2016 (not annual) |
| EN.ATM.GHGO.ZG | Other greenhouse gas emissions (% change from 1990) | Fluorinated gases | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1991-2012 |
| EN.ATM.GHGT.KT.CE | Total greenhouse gas emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent excluding Land-Use Change and Forestry) | All | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.GHGT.ZG | Total greenhouse gas emissions (% change from 1990) | All | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1991-2012 |
| EN.ATM.HFCG.KT.CE | HFC gas emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | Fluorinated gases | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1990-2010 (not annual) |
| EN.ATM.METH.KT.CE | Total methane emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent excluding Land-Use Change and Forestry) | CH4 | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.METH.ZG | Methane emissions (% change from 1990) | CH4 | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1991-2012 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.KT.CE | Total nitrous oxide emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent excluding Land-Use Change and Forestry) | N2O | All | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.ZG | Nitrous oxide emissions (% change from 1990) | N2O | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1991-2012 |
| EN.ATM.PFCG.KT.CE | PFC gas emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | Fluorinated gases | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1990-2010 (not annual) |
| EN.ATM.SF6G.KT.CE | SF6 gas emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | Fluorinated gases | All | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1990-2010 (not annual) |
| EN.ATM.METH.AG.KT.CE | Agricultural methane emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | CH4 | Agriculture | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.AG.KT.CE | Agricultural nitrous oxide emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | N2O | Agriculture | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.AG.ZS | Agricultural nitrous oxide emissions (% of total) | N2O | Agriculture | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1970-2008 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.EG.ZS | CO2 intensity (kg per kg of oil equivalent energy use) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1990-2015 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.GF.KT | CO2 emissions from gaseous fuel consumption (kt) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.GF.ZS | CO2 emissions from gaseous fuel consumption (% of total) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.LF.KT | CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption (kt) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.LF.ZS | CO2 emissions from liquid fuel consumption (% of total) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.SF.KT | CO2 emissions from solid fuel consumption (kt) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.SF.ZS | CO2 emissions from solid fuel consumption (% of total) | CO2 | Energy | CDIAC | 1960-2016 |
| EN.ATM.METH.AG.ZS | Agricultural methane emissions (% of total) | CH4 | Energy | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1970-2008 |
| EN.ATM.METH.EG.KT.CE | Methane emissions in energy sector (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | CH4 | Energy | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.METH.EG.ZS | Energy related methane emissions (% of total) | CH4 | Energy | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1970-2008 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.EG.KT.CE | Nitrous oxide emissions in energy sector (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) | N2O | Energy | CDIAC / CAIT | 1960-2019 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.EG.ZS | Nitrous oxide emissions in energy sector (% of total) | N2O | Energy | EDGAR (EC JRC/PBL) | 1970-2008 |
| EN.CLC.GHGR.MT.CE | GHG net emissions removals by LUCF (Mt of CO2 equivalent) | All | LUCF | UNFCCCC | 1990-2009 |
| EN.CO2.BLDG.ZS | CO2 emissions from residential buildings and commercial and public services (% of total fuel combustion) | CO2 | Other | IEA | 1960-2014 |
| EN.CO2.ETOT.ZS | CO2 emissions from electricity and heat production, total (% of total fuel combustion) | CO2 | Other | IEA | 1960-2014 |
| EN.CO2.MANF.ZS | CO2 emissions from manufacturing industries and construction (% of total fuel combustion) | CO2 | Other | IEA | 1960-2014 |
| EN.CO2.OTHX.ZS | CO2 emissions from other sectors, excluding residential buildings and commercial and public services (% of total fuel combustion) | CO2 | Other | IEA | 1960-2014 |
| EN.CO2.TRAN.ZS | CO2 emissions from transport (% of total fuel combustion) | CO2 | Other | IEA | 1960-2014 |
Breakdown of current indicators by GHG and sector
198 out of 217 WDI economies are available in the dataset. The missing economies are the following:
The WDI includes 217 of which 198 are included in the PIK dataset. The country coverage for the PIK data is 91 percent.
The following WDI countries are not included in the PIK dataset. Note that most of these countries are overseas territories, which are likely included in the total of the cuntry or economy they belong to (exceptions are West Bank and Gaza and Kosovo).
| long_name | ISO3 |
|---|---|
| American Samoa | ASM |
| Bermuda | BMU |
| Cayman Islands | CYM |
| Channel Islands | CHI |
| Curacao | CUW |
| Faroe Islands | FRO |
| French Polynesia | PYF |
| Gibraltar | GIB |
| Greenland | GRL |
| Guam | GUM |
| Isle of Man | IMN |
| Kosovo | XKX |
| New Caledonia | NCL |
| Northern Mariana Islands | MNP |
| Puerto Rico | PRI |
| Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | SXM |
| St. Martin (French part) | MAF |
| Virgin Islands (U.S.) | VIR |
| West Bank and Gaza | PSE |
The PIK data include 133 LMIC countries, which is 98 percent of the total LIMC countries in WDI.
The absolute latest year in the PIK data is 2021.
The median latest year in the PIK data is 2021. This is the same for the data without extrapolation.
The span of years in the PIK data is 62.
The table below compares the PIK data with the current GHG indicators in WDI on the “Adequate coverage” criteria.
Released March 15, 2023: Gütschow, J.; Pflüger, M. (2023): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.4.2 (1750-2021). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7727475.
Earlier versions: Released Feb 20, 2023: Gütschow, J.; Pflüger, M. (2023): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.4.1 (1750-2021). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7585420.
Released October 17, 2022: Gütschow, J.; Pflüger, M. (2022): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.4 (1750-2021). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.7179775.
Released September 22, 2021: Gütschow, J.; Günther, A.; Pflüger, M. (2021): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1750-2019). v2.3.1. zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5494497
Released August 30, 2021: Gütschow, J.; Günther, A.; Pflüger, M. (2021): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.3 (1850-2019). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5175154.
Released February 9, 2021: Gütschow, J.; Günther, A.; Jeffery, L.; Gieseke, R. (2021): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series v2.2 (1850-2018). zenodo. doi:10.5281/zenodo.4479172.
Gütschow, Johannes; Jeffery, Louise; Gieseke, Robert; Günther, Annika (2019): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series (1850-2017). v2.1. GFZ Data Services. https://doi.org/10.5880/PIK.2019.018.
Gütschow, J., Jeffery, M. L., Gieseke, R., Gebel, R., Stevens, D., Krapp, M., and Rocha, M. (2016): The PRIMAP-hist national historical emissions time series, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 8, 571–603, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-8-571-2016.
No unique visitors for new series.
Using hybrid scoring considering time and country coverage and usage statistics ranging between 0 (worst) and 4 (best).
| Indicator.Code | hybrid_score_wgtd | geographic_score_hybrid | temporal_score_hybrid | completeness_score_hybrid | usage_score_hybrid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EN.ATM.CO2E.EG.ZS | 3.160049 | 3.368120 | 2.803704 | 3.440714 | 3.027657 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.GF.KT | 3.377966 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.012364 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.GF.ZS | 3.375166 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.001161 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.KD.GD | 3.331413 | 3.454071 | 3.211111 | 3.640000 | 3.020468 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.KT | 3.449925 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.300200 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.LF.KT | 3.383786 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.035642 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.LF.ZS | 3.375545 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.002679 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PC | 3.624554 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.829000 | 4.000000 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PP.GD | 3.353125 | 3.451489 | 2.988889 | 3.900429 | 3.071693 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.PP.GD.KD | 3.341344 | 3.428331 | 2.988889 | 3.911286 | 3.036872 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.SF.KT | 3.376519 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.006574 |
| EN.ATM.CO2E.SF.ZS | 3.378718 | 3.458105 | 3.211111 | 3.830286 | 3.015369 |
| EN.ATM.GHGO.KT.CE | 3.113615 | 3.435350 | 2.096131 | 3.922571 | 3.000408 |
| EN.ATM.GHGO.ZG | 2.813390 | 3.383272 | 1.940575 | 3.999714 | 1.930000 |
| EN.ATM.GHGT.KT.CE | 3.138202 | 3.445504 | 2.096131 | 3.917143 | 3.094030 |
| EN.ATM.GHGT.ZG | 3.081786 | 3.439323 | 1.940575 | 3.928143 | 3.019101 |
| EN.ATM.HFCG.KT.CE | 2.559285 | 3.162509 | 1.710614 | 2.353000 | 3.011015 |
| EN.ATM.METH.AG.KT.CE | 3.067039 | 3.407000 | 1.850692 | 4.000000 | 3.010463 |
| EN.ATM.METH.AG.ZS | 3.069284 | 3.431237 | 1.843285 | 3.993714 | 3.008901 |
| EN.ATM.METH.EG.KT.CE | 3.065645 | 3.407000 | 1.850692 | 4.000000 | 3.004887 |
| EN.ATM.METH.EG.ZS | 3.067312 | 3.431237 | 1.843285 | 3.993714 | 3.001010 |
| EN.ATM.METH.KT.CE | 3.138859 | 3.449149 | 2.096131 | 3.980286 | 3.029871 |
| EN.ATM.METH.ZG | 3.095823 | 3.431237 | 1.940575 | 4.000000 | 3.011479 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.AG.KT.CE | 3.065075 | 3.407000 | 1.850692 | 4.000000 | 3.002610 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.AG.ZS | 3.065909 | 3.423860 | 1.843285 | 3.993714 | 3.002779 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.EG.KT.CE | 2.896090 | 3.407000 | 1.850692 | 4.000000 | 2.326667 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.EG.ZS | 2.846881 | 3.423860 | 1.843285 | 3.993714 | 2.126667 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.KT.CE | 3.148933 | 3.442105 | 2.096131 | 3.980429 | 3.077068 |
| EN.ATM.NOXE.ZG | 3.091339 | 3.423860 | 1.940575 | 4.000000 | 3.000922 |
| EN.ATM.PFCG.KT.CE | 2.376531 | 3.162509 | 1.710614 | 2.353000 | 2.280000 |
| EN.ATM.SF6G.KT.CE | 2.556630 | 3.162509 | 1.710614 | 2.353000 | 3.000395 |
| EN.CLC.GHGR.MT.CE | 2.744833 | 3.369365 | 1.702875 | 2.904000 | 3.003093 |
| EN.CO2.BLDG.ZS | 3.116276 | 3.175956 | 2.629630 | 3.651000 | 3.008519 |
| EN.CO2.ETOT.ZS | 3.118472 | 3.175956 | 2.629630 | 3.651000 | 3.017301 |
| EN.CO2.MANF.ZS | 3.119064 | 3.175956 | 2.629630 | 3.651000 | 3.019672 |
| EN.CO2.OTHX.ZS | 3.114485 | 3.175956 | 2.629630 | 3.651000 | 3.001355 |
| EN.CO2.TRAN.ZS | 3.126766 | 3.175956 | 2.629630 | 3.651000 | 3.050478 |
Time and country coverage of existing indicators showing that latest year of many indicators is 2014 or 2018 and country coverage is low for some indicators.
GHG indicators combine two different sources, that create a jump in the series due to different methodologies used in the two series. Furthermore, the current series are more volatile and the volatility does not always have explaining factors. Volatility partially occurs because of the way the series is compiled by CAIT. CAIT (and other sources) compile their series using different primary sources. The sources can be broadly divided into country-reported data and third-party data. Differences between these two sources can be large and CAIT fills missing data from one source with missing data from another sources, which explains in part the observed volatility in the data. CAIT does not use official inventories reported to UNFCCC, PIK does for countries where available.
Licensing issues and data availability: indicators from IEA are distributed under a license that restricts redistribution and only available until 2014.
The official SDG indicators on GHG emissions are INDICATOR 9.4.1 CO2 emission per unit of value added and INDICATOR 13.2.2 Total greenhouse gas emissions per year (https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/dataportal/database). also licensing terms and SDGs. The respective sources are UNIDO and UNFCCC. Indicator 9.4.1 does not reflect
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| CO2 | Carbon Dioxide |
| CH4 | Methane |
| FGASES | Fluorinated Gases (Hydrofluorocarbons + Perflurocarbons) |
| N2O | Nitrous Oxide |
| SF6 | Sulfur Hexafluoride |
Global Warming Potentials (GWP) are the factors used to convert other GHGs into CO2e to make them comparable w.r.t. the effect on global warming. GWP is a measure of how much energy the emissions of 1 ton of a gas will absorb over a given period of time, relative to the emissions of 1 ton of carbon dioxide (CO2). GWPs are estimates and different sets of GWPs are used. We use the GWPs from the fourth IPCC assessment report:
| GHG | GWP |
|---|---|
| CO2 | 1 |
| CH4 | 25 |
| N2O | 298 |
Category descriptions using IPCC 1996 terminology.
| Code | Description |
|---|---|
| 0 | National Total |
| M.0.EL | National Total, excluding LULUCF |
| 1 | Total Energy |
| 1.A | Fuel Combustion Activities |
| 1.B | Fugitive Emissions from Fuels |
| 2 | Industrial Processes |
| 3 | Solvent and Other Product Use |
| 4 | Agriculture |
| 5 | Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCF) |
| 6 | Waste |
| 7 | Other |
Data on LULUCF has high uncertainty and we therefore exlcude.
All sources rely on the same primary sources for data.
According to the Working Group III Contribution to the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, global CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion are known within 8% uncertainty (90% confidence interval). CO2 emissions from FOLU (forestry and other land use) have very large uncertainties associated with them in the order of ± 50%. Uncertainty for global emissions of CH4, N2O and the F-gases has been estimated as 20%, 60% and 20% respectively. For the PIK dataset, regional deforestation emissions are downscaled to the country level using estimates of the deforested area obtained from potential vegetation and calculations for the needed agricultural land. Accordingly levels of uncertainty are quite high for earlier years of data (closer to 1850).
The dataset covers the years 1750-2019, where a considerable number of values 2019 are numerically extrapolated. As the WDI starts in 1960, only values from 1960 are considered.
The WDI includes 217 of which 198 are included in the PIK dataset. The following WDI countries are not included in the PIK dataset:
| long_name | ISO3 |
|---|---|
| American Samoa | ASM |
| Bermuda | BMU |
| Cayman Islands | CYM |
| Channel Islands | CHI |
| Curacao | CUW |
| Faroe Islands | FRO |
| French Polynesia | PYF |
| Gibraltar | GIB |
| Greenland | GRL |
| Guam | GUM |
| Isle of Man | IMN |
| Kosovo | XKX |
| New Caledonia | NCL |
| Northern Mariana Islands | MNP |
| Puerto Rico | PRI |
| Sint Maarten (Dutch part) | SXM |
| St. Martin (French part) | MAF |
| Virgin Islands (U.S.) | VIR |
| West Bank and Gaza | PSE |
All 26 indicators have the same score of 3.571429 when using the dataset with extrapolated values.
Some sector/GHG combinations are not common as not all gases are produced in each sector. Therefore, some combinations could be dropped.
Proposal: Include the following combinations:
Overview of number of extrapolated values by indicator for the years 2017-2019
LUCF data have a higher uncertainty and can distort the series strongly.
Proposal: Exclude LUCF from totals and include separate LUCF indicator.
PIK published two main series: one that relies on third-party data and another that relies on country-reported data. The third-party data is a smoother series.
Proposal: use third-party data
Convert all GHG data into CO2e for comparison or report in tons of respective GHG. Issue with GWP that differs.
Proposal: Report all GHGs in CO2e for comparability.
Use extrapolated values for latest year for some countries or keep missing values
Overview of number of extrapolated values by indicator for the years 2017-2019
Proposal: Include extrapolated values for completeness and update series regularly.
Proposal: include total per capita GHG emissions and total per capita CO2 emissions